Journal Register Co. puts its employees on needles and pins

These are not the best of times to be working in the newspaper business, but it's particularly nerve-wracking, it seems, to be an employee of Journal Register Co., the company that publishes The (Lake County) News-Herald and The (Lorain) Morning Journal.The New Haven (Conn.) Register, a Journal Register newspaper, reports that the sole bidder in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction of the Yardley, Pa.-based company “will decide which of the company's employees it wants to retain” as the sale moves forward.“A letter has been sent to all of the company's employees explaining that when 21st CMH Acquisition Co. completes its acquisition of JRC, it will be up to the new owner which of JRC's existing employees it wants to hire,” according to the Connecticut newspaper.The sale is expected to close on or about April 17. 21st CMH Acquisition is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital LLC, which is the owner of Journal Register. This Associated Press story puts the purchase price at around $120 million.The New Haven Register quotes Jonathan Cooper, vice president of media relations and employee communication for Digital First Media, which jointly manages Journal Register and MediaNews Group, as saying, “The notices sent to all Journal Register Co. employees — from part-time staffers to managers to the executive team — are the next step in the company's ongoing sale process.” Mr. Cooper said he “could not speak for the new owners regarding whether the company's employees would have to reapply for their jobs,” according to the newspaper.The process that JRC is going through “is quite common in bankruptcy proceedings,” John Collard, chairman of Strategic Management Partners, an Annapolis, Md.-based business turnaround firm, tells The New Haven Register.“When somebody buys a company out of bankruptcy, they are buying a specific list of assets, usually not 100 percent of what the existing business has,” Mr. Collard tells the newspaper. “While they can purchase assets, it's not possible to purchase employees. So the acquiring company comes to employees and offers them the same terms they had with the old company or different terms.”He says it's likely that 21st CMH Acquisition Co. will not retain all of the Journal Register employees.

Journal Register last September sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years.At the time, Journal Register CEO John Paton wrote on his blog that Journal Register exited its previous bankruptcy, in 2009, “with approximately $225 million in debt and with a legacy cost structure, which includes leases, defined benefit pensions and other liabilities that are now unsustainable and threaten the company's efforts for a successful digital transformation.”Journal Register has newspapers and websites in 10 states. Its two Cleveland-area newspapers have a total of about 200 employees.

This and that

The appeal of apparel: A Cleveland clothing company is part of a new strategy for the struggling U.S. Postal Service.The USPS on Tuesday announced plans to come out with a line of clothing and accessories, called "Rain Heat & Snow." It licensed its unofficial motto to Cleveland-based Wahconah Group Inc., which will design the line of accessories and apparel, according to CNNMoney.com.The website reports that it's a victory for the cash-strapped Postal Service, which will get "a small percentage of sales," according to Isaac Crawford, CEO of the Wahconah Group. He tells CNNMoney.com that the agency won't have to pay a dime to produce the line; his company will finance it.Rain Heat & Snow will release a line for men by spring 2014, which will be sold in premier department and specialty stores, according to the story. A line for women also is in the works."You're talking about an American legacy," Mr. Crawford says. "We're hoping it will be very successful."No. 101 never felt so good: He doesn't really need more accolades, but chef Michael Symon's Lola restaurant in Cleveland has landed on a list of the country's 101 best restaurants compiled by The Daily Meal.

Bloomberg reports that the website's editors, headed by the food writer Colman Andrews, enlisted 174 judges to come up with a shortlist. They then voted, based on cuisine, region and factors such as the level of formality and buzz and the prices, according to Bloomberg.Lola grabbed the last slot available — No. 101. It's the only Ohio restaurant on the list, which is dominated by restaurants in California and New York.The survey lists The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., as the finest restaurant in the United States, followed by Gramercy Tavern and Le Bernardin in New York.But it's not just a list of fancy places. No. 10 on the list is Shake Shack in New York.Guess that's a no: CNBC.com reports that the head of U.S. tiremaker Titan launched “a vitriolic attack on French productivity” after the country's socialist government suggested he buy a tire factory in the north of France that Akron-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plans to close."Do you think we are that stupid?" wrote Maurice Taylor, in a letter to French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, obtained by French business newspaper Les Echos. (Goodyear reported in January that it will close the unprofitable plant, putting around 1,000 workers out of jobs.)In his letter to Mr. Montebourg, Mr. Taylor “left no doubt as to why he did not want to buy the factory,” according to CNBC.com.“I have visited this factory several times,” he wrote. “The French employees are highly paid, but they only work for three hours. They take one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three hours, and work for three hours. I said this directly to the French unions. They replied: 'That is how it is in France.'"You also can follow me on Twitter for more news about business and Northeast Ohio.

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